Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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522. To ask the Minister for Defence when the next meeting of the national emergency co-ordination committee will take place; the number of meetings that have taken to date in 2014; the number he has chaired; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32381/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I chair the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning, which includes senior officials of Government Departments, senior officers of An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces and officials of other key public authorities, which have a lead or support role in Government emergency planning. The Government Task Force on Emergency Planning meets on a regular basis. The next meeting will take place on Wednesday, 23 July 2014. So far this year there have been three meetings of the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning. The first meeting on 10 February was chaired by my predecessor Mr. Alan Shatter, T.D. The second meeting on 11 April was chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Defence, Mr. Maurice Quinn. The last meeting on 5 June was chaired by Mr. Paul Kehoe, T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Defence.

While the details of matters discussed at meetings of the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning are confidential, I can confirm that the Task Force examines current risks and supports coordination arrangements for emergency planning across Government.

The Task Force is regularly briefed on such matters as the current security threat, which is provided by An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces, as well as receiving regular updates specifically from the lead Government Departments. This includes the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, which chairs the National Steering Group under the Framework for Major Emergency Management, along with having the lead Government Department role and responsibilities in eleven of the forty two emergency scenarios.

The Task Force regularly addresses other emergency planning issues ranging from risk assessment to training and exercises as well as receiving regular briefings on current issues from the various lead Government Departments on their specific roles and responsibilities and their associated work programmes.

The Task Force establishes Subgroups from time to time to specifically look at particular areas of emergency planning that may need to be addressed.